IMG_4929.JPG

My Question

Where do birds prefer to eat? ( Over a pond or over a field)

Hypothesis

I think that they will prefer to eat over the field,because they will be able to see all of their surroundings. Rather then the pond where they could fall in, and they can't see what is under them.

IMG_4939.JPG

Research

I am not so sure how much these locations well effect the study. I mostly found that the feeders needed to have shelter, from weather, and the birds need to be able to see from all sides.They also need to be out of reach from predators. Which would lead me to think that having a feeder over a pond might not effect them all that much.

Procedure

  • Hang rope over the field and pond
  • Then hang the feeders on the ropes
  • Fill both feeders with five cups of Wagner's black sunflower seeds
  • Put in 1/3 cup at a time and mark the feeder for every 1/3 cup
  • Leave both feeders there for five days measuring them twice a day at 7:00am and 7:00pm by looking at the marks on each feeder
  • Then analyze the data that I collected from the amount of feed that was eaten every day.

Materials

  • Two feeders
  • Two ropes
  • Bird feed
  • Two clips to hang the feedersIMG_4940.JPG

Independent Variables

  • Where the feeders are

Dependent Variables

  • The feeders
  • The feed
  • The weather


Data Chart



Day/Time
Temperature
Amount of Feed Left



Pond
Field
Mon - AM
35°
5
5
Mon - PM
44°
5
5
Tues - AM
30°
5
5
Tues - PM
42°
5
5
Wed -AM
33°
5
5
Wed -PM
44°
5
5
Thur -AM
39°
5
5
Thur -PM
50°
5
5
Fri -AM
34°
5
5
Fri -PM
48°
5
5
Sat -AM
34°
5
5
Sat -PM
49°
5
5
Sun -AM
46°
5
5
Sun -PM
50°
5
5

Data Graphs


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What happened

At first I thought that the birds just didn't find the feeder even though it had been up for several days before I started the experiment. But as the days went on it seemed unlikely that the birds still didn't find the feeder. One of the days I put a shinee aluminum tin on the ground with feed in it. I heard that it would help attract birds flying over head. Well I put that there at around seven thirty that night and the next morning when I came back it was all gone.I left the tin there hoping the birds would eventually come.

Conclusion

As you can see from my research the birds did not visit either of my feeders. I don't think that it was all because of location. Since the weather is not that cold and these were put in places where feeders have not been put before I think that the birds were just unsure about using the feeders. There was also competition with bugs and other things that the birds naturally feed on. Not being near trees or anywhere they can escape and hide from predators could have also played a role in both feeders. I am sure that nothing was wrong with the feeders, because after I took them down I hung them in our windows and birds showed up after a few hours. Many things could have been factors like how high the feeders were off the ground. My hypothesis was incorrect since the birds didn't visit either feeder